October 30, 2009 -- There is an IT operations manager/storage professional on the run this Halloween and he has 30 hours to get as far away from Manchester University as possible.

Simon Painter, an IT engineer for storage vendor BlueArc, is participating in a "jailbreak" this weekend in an effort to raise funds for KidsCan, a pediatric cancer treatment research organization based in the UK.

Painter and his friend David Wood are competing with 100 others in a race to get as far away from the starting point as they can without spending any money. They may raise some eyebrows, as they will be donning orange prison-like jumpsuits and flip-flops for the trip.

Aside from travel documents and an emergency credit card, the duo will be toting a mobile phone with them as they beg, borrow and "blag" their way across Europe. The team will use the phone to update their location on Twitter and Facebook.

Painter hopes to make his way to Zimbabwe by the end of the contest. Participants have reportedly made it as far away as New Zealand and Australia in past races.

Kevin Komiega has been the Senior Editor of InfoStor since 2005. He was previously a senior news writer with SearchStorage.com and held a position as a public relations account executive with Porter Novelli, Boston. Kevin also spent four years running tape backup operations at the University of Rhode Island's Academic Computer Center. He can be contacted at kkomiega@quinstreet.com.